It was a good weekend of home games for the St. Thomas Tommies women’s soccer team, but not so much for their male counterparts.
The STU women battled to a 2-2 draw against the University of New Brunswick Saint John Seawolves Sunday at Scotiabank Park South after beating the Crandall Chargers 3-1 on Saturday.
On the other hand, the STU men played two more league games without scoring, as they fell 4-0 to UNBSJ on Sunday after being edged 1-0 by Crandall the day before.
The Tommies men’s squad was also held off the scoreboard in its previous two league games and four of its five pre-season contests.
Tommies women tie Seawolves
STU made a solid late push in the second half after giving up two goals in roughly 23 minutes.
Midfielder Katrina Carroll drew the first blood for UNBSJ at the fourth minute before defender Kaitlin Casey put the Seawolves up 2-0 off a goal that bounced over STU keeper Mary Cronin 27 minutes in.
“It was just a couple mistakes in the first half that cost us the win,” said Tommies head coach Michelle DeCourcey.
Tommies centreback Zoé de Bellefeuille got the home team on the board less than 10 minutes into the second half.
Rookie midfielder Phoebe van der Muelen then buried the equalizer with seven minutes left on the clock – around the same time she netted the 2-1 goal for STU Saturday against Crandall.
Lack of scoring continues for STU men
Striker Mackenzie Tamblyn’s hat trick propelled the Seawolves to victory Sunday afternoon.
Tamblyn struck first nine minutes before halftime, then scored again at the 70th and 82nd minutes.
Midfielder Alex Allison also found the back of the net for UNBSJ at around the 74th minute.
“Without goals, we’ll have a hard time winning games,” said John-Ryan Morrison, STU men’s soccer head coach.
Tommies women resist the charge
The STU women’s soccer team finished its first home game of the season in victorious fashion.
The Tommies and Chargers battled hard for the entire game, but it was STU that came out on
top after what was essentially a Tommies field day.
“It took a while to gain our momentum and attack with some strength,” said DeCourcey.
“But eventually, we got there and put in a couple goals late in the game that got us the win.”
First-year midfielder Katie MacDermaid struck first for STU 35 minutes into the game.
Six minutes into the second half, Crandall player Paige Talbot beat Cronin to knot the score at a goal apiece.
Van der Muelen responded at the 82nd minute to put STU back on top.
First-year player Olivia Ormond put the final nail in Crandall’s coffin with three minutes left to play.
STU men fall to Chargers
Both the Tommies and Chargers had some nice scoring chances in Saturday’s men’s game, but Crandall got the lone goal with midfielder Matthew Daly scoring six minutes into the opening half.
“If we can’t beat Crandall, it’s going to be a tough season for us,” said Morrison.
As halftime approached, Crandall midfielder Ryan Alli was given a red card and tossed from the game after kicking STU wingback Guillermo Bergeron in a scrum for the ball.
But cooler heads prevailed as ball possession went back and forth between STU and Crandall.
Midway through the second half, Tommies starting keeper Nicolas Levesque was relieved by Morgan MacDonald when Morrison switched Levesque to the striker position.
Morrison said the move was an attempt to create offense.
STU’s next doubleheaders are on Saturday, Sept. 24, when the Tommies will host the Holland College Hurricanes at Scotiabank Park South.
Kickoff is 2 p.m. for the women and 4 p.m. for the men.
